Building trust: A systematic review of the drivers and barriers of agricultural data sharing

Smart farming practices offer decision-making support as farmers navigate economic, social, and environmental challenges. However, smart farming adoption remains low in many farming contexts due to the perceived cost and skills required, and hesitancies about sharing agricultural data. Numerous studies have reviewed the factors that influence smart farming adoption within different agricultural scenarios, but to the best our knowledge, none have specifically reviewed the motivators and obstacles of agri-data sharing within smart farming. The objective of this research was to identify and classify the most prominent drivers and barriers for sharing agridata across stakeholders, by examining the existing literature. A Systematic Literature Review was conducted using the PRISMA 2020 methodology. The query initially identified 491 papers from Scopus and Web of Science, and after screening the final number of papers for assessment was 59. Factors affecting the willingness and capability to engage in agricultural data sharing were categorised in socio-economic, systemic, technical, and legal categories. The most prominent drivers for agri-data sharing were systemic and technical, which were discussed in 58 % and 57 % of the papers, respectively. Technical factors were the most prevalent barriers, discussed in 68 % of the literature. Perceived knowledge gain leading to improved decision-making, collabo­ ration across the agri-value chain, improved technologies, and clarity around data sovereignty were key enablers identified for sharing data. Lack of knowledge about the purpose and benefit of sharing data, mistrust of “who will benefit from my data”, data privacy and security, and lack clarity on data ownership and rights of use were the prominent concerns. The findings from this paper will help inform on-the-ground social science research across the EU focused on feasible options for promoting the benefits of agri-data sharing.